Heart & Soul: The Meeting (Heartland Series) Read online

  Heart & Soul – The Meeting

  By Nicola C. Priest

  Copyright © Nicola C. Priest

  Disclaimer

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Dedication

  To all my family and friends who have encouraged me to do what I’ve been doing for fun for so long. Write. I love you all and thank you for your support.

  To the first man I ever loved. My Dad. Thank you for everything you ever taught me and the support you gave me over the years.

  MYALYF

  XXX

  ~ 1 ~

  He consumed her. It was the only way Jenny could describe how he made her feel. Every time he turned those dark, soul searching eyes in her direction, her body shivered in wanton anticipation. The blood in her veins heated and the desire flooded her entire being. When he touched her, he set the millions of nerve endings throughout her body on fire.

  Daryl reached out to her and she shivered. His fingertips gently stroking her arms as he slid her jacket from her shoulders. It was barely a caress, yet to her, it felt like he was claiming her. His gentle touch wasn’t enough, she needed him to hold her, to feel his hard body against hers as his lips did all the magical things she’d dreamt about.

  Her jacket removed, he wasn’t touching her now, but she could tell he was close. The heat emanated from his strong body, seeping through the thin material of her dress, warming her to the core. Jenny began to turn her head and gasped when his hand quickly came up to stop her, falling away just as fast as she slowly turned her head back. There was barely any space between them, one tiny step back is all it would take but still he maintained his position, the lack of contact driving her to distraction.

  She knew he liked it this way, being in control. It was a part of his personality that she’d become so familiar with in recent weeks. With any other man she would have been running for the hills, but not with him. When he exerted his dominance over her, she melted. She found herself willing to go to any lengths to please him. The expectancy of what he had planned only heightened her already aroused state. She fought the urge to spin round and crush her lips to his, to taste him. She wanted this man more than she ever imagined possible and right now, she wanted him badly.

  Jenny closed her eyes and sighed as Daryl swept her hair from her shoulder. His lips gently connected with sensitive skin of her neck, giving her the contact that she craved. A soft moan escaped her lips and she knew in that moment she would give him everything she had, everything she was. Her heart, mind and body were his and only his.

  Dare she think about forever? They’d not made any promises to each other but Jenny knew that being with Daryl had ruined her for anyone else. She couldn’t imagine any other man making her feel so wanted, so desired. He only had to look at her and any good intentions went up in smoke. It didn’t matter if they were in a public place or in the privacy of their apartments. If he asked her to strip naked and suck him off until he exploded down her throat, she knew she would, without a seconds hesitation.

  His lips continued to assault her neck as he nipped, licked and kissed. Ever so slowly, he lowered the thin straps of her dress as he continued to rain kisses across her overly sensitive skin. Her body betrayed her desires every time he was near her. He didn’t have to do or say anything, his mere presence was enough to make her turn into a walking mass of hormones. She knew that he was well aware of what he did to her as she let her head fall back to rest against his shoulder, his hands gently but firmly holding her at the waist.

  She gasped when Daryl pulled her back against him, her soft curves fitting his hard angles perfectly. She felt the rigid length of his arousal pressed against her back and she flexed her fingers, her desire to reach round and take him in her hand almost too strong.

  She knew she couldn’t. She knew what would happen if she touched him without permission. He would leave her wanting while he took his own pleasure from her body in any way that he saw fit. Only when he was fully satisfied would he let her reach her own climax, if he did at all.

  She wiggled her ass against his length, smiling when she heard his breath leave his lungs in a long hiss. Repeating the action, she felt his body tense and she knew that his control was slipping. He liked to take things slow, liking the build up to an explosive finale, but every now and then she would push him past his own limits and he would just take her. This is what she wanted now. They had plenty of time for soft and gentle later, now she wanted hard and fast, the need to feel his cock inside her was almost too much for her to bear. Despite knowing what he would do to her, she reached round and stroked him through his pants.

  That was all it took.

  She gasped when his hands squeezed her waist before he grabbed the hem of her dress yanking it up and over her head. Jenny watched as he tossed it across the room before spinning her round and pushing her against the wall. She barely had time to register what was happening before his mouth crashed down on hers. This is what she wanted, what she needed from him.

  “Miss Westfield?”

  The length of his erection pressed intimately between her trembling thighs as she fumbled with his belt. When she pushed his pants down past his hips she heard his groan as took him in her hands. The satiny smooth length of his cock throbbed and she felt the rumble in his chest as he growled into the kiss that was quickly becoming all consuming. Heat spread throughout her body, pooling between her thighs as she felt his hand slide down her body and under the silk of her panties, reaching the place that she wanted him the most. His fingers teased and stroked and she ached to have him inside her, the need for him to fuck her was the only thing she could think about.

  “Miss Westfield. Are you okay?”

  The words penetrated her foggy brain as she felt the hand on her arm, dragging her back to reality. Looking around, she realised that not only had her mind been replaying a scene from one of her favourite romance novels, it had done so in full view of everyone currently in the foyer of the Heartland building.

  Please God, don’t let me have completely embarrassed myself.

  Smiling, she forced her eyes to focus on the concerned looking man in front of her.

  “Morning George.” She said as she produced her security pass. “Lovely day outside.”

  “That it is Miss Westfield.” George said with a smile.

  Returning his smile with one of her own as George glanced out through the large, glass entrance way, Sam hurried through the turnstiles without another word, sighing as the cool air from the air conditioned building hit her overheated cheeks. She couldn’t believe that she’d let herself get so involved in that book, and in a public place too. It was one thing to lose yourself in a tale of dominance and eroticism in the privacy of your own home, but in your workplace? That was a completely different story, one she knew she would never live down if anyone found out.

  Clipping her security pass to the waistband of her skirt, Sam crossed the expansive foyer, complete with its water features and exotic artwork. She nodded and smiled politely as she passed colleagues and other familiar faces.

  The forty-storey Heartland building housed advertising agencies, marketing comp
anies, legal firms and any other sort of big corporate organisation you could think of. It was a prominent feature of the Toronto skyline, standing proud amongst the likes of the CN Tower and First Canadian Place. Almost everyone who worked there wore power suits that probably cost more than her annual rent. No matter how smart she thought she looked when she left her apartment each morning, arriving there always made her feel woefully under dressed.

  The top ten floors housed exclusive apartments, each one a blank canvas until someone purchased it, when it was then transformed according to the specific tastes of its owner. She’d never had occasion to go up past her floor, but she had heard that each floor only housed four apartments, one for each corner, with each being over two levels. The top two floors contained the penthouse, one huge apartment, currently standing empty, mainly due to its eight figure price tag. Only the obscenely wealthy could afford to live there, which meant there was no way she ever would.

  She was comfortable financially, thanks to the advice from by her investment banker brother, but even with all that, she could work every hour of every day for the rest of her natural life and she still wouldn’t come close to having enough money to afford the deposit, let alone the actual apartment.

  Sam nodded another hello as she reached the bank of elevators and punched the call button. At that moment, the shrill ringing of her cell phone filled the air and she sighed. Switching the folders she carried to the other arm, Sam reached inside her purse and pulled it out, knowing who would be calling before she even saw the screen. When the display confirmed her suspicions, she stuffed the phone back into her purse. It continued ringing for a few more seconds before stopping and was followed a few moments later by the chirp indicating she had a yet another voicemail.

  She knew she wasn’t going to listen to the message. She would just delete it like she had done the dozens of others he’d left her. There would be lots of pleading and begging her to forgive him. He would be telling her that it wouldn’t happen again, that it had all been a mistake, a misunderstanding. After all, that was what he’d been shouting as she’d shoved him out of the apartment. Why should this be any different? Did he really think she was going to take him back? Especially after she’d walked in on him banging her neighbour in her own bed!

  Three Days Ago

  What a day. Hell, what a week. All she’d been thinking about for the last three hours was getting home, dumping her stuff wherever it landed and not doing a thing until work came around on Monday morning. Having spent the whole day fielding calls from wannabe clients, a job which wasn’t even hers, she wanted a glass or two of wine, maybe even a bottle, and a relaxing evening in front of the TV. She would be a vegetable for the next few days and she didn’t care who knew it.

  Juggling her purse, jacket and keys, she managed to push the key into the front door, wincing as her overloaded purse slipped from her shoulder, catching in the crook of her elbow. Why the hell did she have such a big purse? The bigger it was the more crap she threw in it, most of it never seeing the light of day again. She really needed to sort through it and invest in something smaller. Some retail therapy was always welcome, even if her credit card thought otherwise.

  Making a mental note to speak with Becky and Trina on Monday, Sam pushed the door open, trying not to get the oversized purse caught up in her legs as she staggered inside. Stopping in her tracks, she let the bag and its content spill onto the floor at the sight that greeted her. If she hadn’t been in a foul mood before, she certainly was now. Clothes were strewn all over the floor and the couch. Empty take out boxes littered the coffee table and kitchen worktops and what Mike considered music was blaring from the bedroom.

  “God damn it Mike!”

  She should have expected this. She was a fool for believing that he would actually do something around the apartment while she went out and worked to keep a roof over her, or was it over his head? Sometimes she didn’t even know. His response to her request that morning to tidy the place could have been considered a grunt and it was clear her request had fallen on deaf ears. The last thing she wanted to do was housework, but Sam knew she wouldn’t be able to rest until it was done. One thing she did know though, she had no intention of doing it alone.

  “Mike, get your lazy ass out here now!”

  She tossed a couple of the take out boxes in the trash and grabbed a pile of clothes, turning towards the bedroom when there was no sign of him.

  “MIKE!”

  When there was still no response, the clothes she carried got dumped into a heap on the floor as she headed to the bedroom, pushing the door so hard it flung open and crashed against the wall.

  Of all the things she expected to see, Mike’s head buried between the thighs of her neighbour wasn’t one of them. Neither of them had noticed her presence, obviously two absorbed in their carnal activities. She stood frozen to the spot as she watched her boyfriend grab the hips of his playmate, pulling her pussy closer to his eager mouth, her brazen moans audible over the music as his hard cock stood to attention.

  Finally coming back to her senses, she took hold of the door and pushed it against the wall with a little more force. As the loud noise echoed around the room, the blond currently being eaten out by her ass of a boyfriend turned her head, her eyes connecting with Sam’s blazing green ones. At least she had the decency to look a little ashamed as she shoved Mike from between her legs and grabbed a sheet to cover her silicone enhanced body. It took several more moments before he turned to see her, standing quickly, his erection still eager to play.

  Shaking her head, Sam knew that it was a memory she wouldn’t forget anytime soon, but she had to admit, she was proud of the way she’d handled things. Sam just wished that it hadn’t been her neighbour he’d been banging. That way, throwing them out into the hallway bare ass naked might have had more of an impact if they hadn’t had her apartment to vanish into, no doubt to finish their session, despite his pleads for forgiveness. She hadn’t seen the blond since that night.

  Banishing the memory to the back of her mind, at least for the moment, she stepped into the elevator as the doors opened and punched the button for the twentieth floor. Hearing a shout to hold the elevator, she reached out to stop the doors from closing as two men rushed in. Recognising them from the marketing company that shared the floor with her employer, she smiled as the doors slid shut

  As the elevator started to ascend her phone began to ring again. Ignoring it, Sam smiled when one of the men glanced down at her purse, then at her with a questioning look on his face.

  “Telemarketers.” She said with a shrug as the elevator stopped on their floor. “They just won’t take no for an answer.”

  Thanking the men as they stepped aside, she exited the elevator onto the twentieth floor. Her heels clicked on the tiled floor as she rounded the corner, pushing through the large, glass double doors and into the hustle and bustle of Robinson, Morgan and Green, one of the most pre-eminent talent agencies in North America.

  The walls were lined with offices each with a dazzling view over Downtown Toronto. They were home to one of the dozen or so full time agents the company employed, their personal assistants in the adjoining and much smaller offices. The two corner and most envied spaces belonged to the two remaining CEOs, Karl Morgan and Max Green. Only the most highly respected of employees got to go within the confines of those four walls and she knew that, as a mere assistant, her chances were about as equal to there being snow in the Sahara.

  Placing the files she carried onto her desk, Sam dropped her purse in her drawer and sat on the ergonomically designed chair. Repositioning the phone and keyboard, she silently cursed who very have moved them, again. When everything was set just how she liked it, Sam reached over to switch on her computer when she spotted David Hughes, one of the agents and the guy whose PA she’d covered for on Friday, hurrying towards her.

  “Sam! Sam, thank goodness you’re here. Rachael has called in sick again so I need you to fill in as my PA and come with
me to a meeting. I wouldn’t normally ask at such short notice but this one is big.”

  A meeting? Her? She was an assistant, a gopher. She never usually left the office until it was end of her shift. Now she was being asked to go to a meeting with one of the agents. Surely another of the PAs was more suitable, then again, at this time in the morning, she doubted any of them had arrived yet.

  She had worked with David and Rachael on more than one occasion, which is probably why he’d requested her when Rachael had called in sick on Friday. She liked him. He was a couple of years older that she was and with his sandy blond hair, twinkling green eyes and boyish good looks, he had that boy next door look that made people trust him. This was a good thing in the business he’d chosen to make his career. Trust was everything.

  “Um, sure David. Give me five minutes and I’ll be all set.”

  “No time.” He said as grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet before blatantly looking her up and down from her red wavy hair to her black patent toes. “You look fine. I’m sure Alistair Lockwood will never know you’re not really a PA.”